Beware of Attempts to Revive Military Draft

[dw]

An editorial in Newsday

...snip...

In a perfect world, the Pentagon would reject a draft. It likes its soldiers willing and malleable, not angry and cynical. But the current situation is far from perfect. Despite the capture of Saddam Hussein, young Americans are likely to keep dying in Iraq. Reserve and National Guard troops have been deployed far longer than they expected. This may soon start to erode enlistment and re-enlistment rates. At the same time, Bush's reckless preventive-war strategy could commit further troops to battles in other countries.

If Bush's policy keeps demanding more and more troops, and the supply of volunteers dwindles, it only takes a simple act of Congress to start the draft. That would be a profoundly bad idea.

...snip...

As divided as this country is now, a new draft would only exacerbate the division. And it would give this war-without-end presidency an endless source of warm bodies to pursue its cowboy foreign policy. Who knows what "October surprise" invasion Bush may have in store to boost his re-election chances in 2004? Then the next step might be a "February surprise" draft in 2005.

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[Booberdawg]

1. I wouldn't mind seeing a draft if it were applied equally and the rich

and Congressmens' kids were not allowed exceptions or deferments. Then maybe people would start getting a bit smarter about whether they support this war and the reasons for it, as well as plans for explanding it.

I still look for war to expand far beyond Iraq. These idiots in the White House and running this country are fucking nuts!

[drb]

2. By that time, the economy will be in the....

...crapper so bad, the Army will be the only job left that hasn't been outsourced to India.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. I would only support a draft if....

...there was a true national emergency such as WWII.

That said I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of required national service say one or two years long of each invidual's choosing. One could have the option of the military, the Peace Corps of some other public service agancy such as the old Civilian Conservation Corps.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

4. Unfortunately...

this is being pushed by Democrats.

Conscription is slavery. Period.

[DavidMS]

5. The only good part of conscription...

is that it distributes the burden of military service equaly. It destroys the posibility of a Palitorian Gaurd or political domination by the miltiary. Conscripted armies are apolitical (they mirror the population at large).

Compared to the alternative, the use of mercenaries (I do understand that most Americans in uniform serve out of a sense of Patritoism) its by far preferable.

A second advantage is it becomes politicaly easier to replace camp folowers (private military contractors) with proper soldiers.

A final advantage is that a conscipted army is that its large and starves resources from wastefull weapons programs (the Bundesweir is being reduced in streinght so there is money to replace Cold War era weapons).

[Martin Eden]

6. I agree ... BEWARE the draft !!!

Those who argue that a draft is acceptable if it doesn't exempt the rich, or because it would increase resistance to war, are putting the cart before the horse.

Karl Rove knows that the draft would be a major political liability -- that Americans are considerably more comfortable when volunteers are risking their lives than when their sons are snatched from their homes and sent to die.

There are two scenarios IMHO that a draft might be instituted:

1)The situation in Iraq gets considerably worse and/or another conflict arises that requires a massive infusion of troops -- in other words, real bad news.

2)Enough people are misguided enough to support the draft so that it isn't a political liability for Bush -- with the result that the neocons' military ambitions are no longer constrained by the limited number of available troops.

If we get a military draft, we are in for all war all the time.